Tuesday, April 15, 2008

First, the good: The Yankees won, which is, in the end, the most important thing. Everyone one through five in the lineup scored a run, and Andy Pettitte battled on a night when he didn't have his best stuff to keep Tampa to three runs.

That said, there is one pressing concern.

In the seventh inning, the Yankees loaded the bases and they did not score.

In the eighth inning, the Yankees loaded the bases and they did not score.

In the ninth inning, the Yankees had runners on first and second with no one out and didn't even move the runners over to second and third.

While it's true that good pitching will always beat good hitting, Tampa Bay did not exactly have Cy Young caliber pitching on the mound in those innings--in fact, Tampa's best pitcher so far this year, Edwin Jackson, was the only one the Yankees could get to.

The lack of clutch hitting becomes a much bigger concern as the season goes on, and tonight poor weather conditions can't be used as an excuse.

The Yankees get to go back home for a grand total of two games against the Red Sox; hopefully the return home will remind the bats that hits are really cool when you string three or four or five together in a row.

OPTIMIST TAKE: Kyle Farnsworth pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Mariano Rivera notched his fifth save of the year. On a night that was far from the best start of his career, Pettitte battled and came out with the win, with some good defense from Robinson Canò to help. Derek Jeter, in his second game back from a quad injury, had three hits. The Yankees went 4-4 on the road trip and are back on the right side of .500.

Boston looks like they'll win, Toronto won and for the first time this year, Detroit won two in a row.